Steve Mackall

Last updated

Steve Mackall
Born
Stephen James Mackall

(1959-12-09) December 9, 1959 (age 64)
Occupation(s)Voice actor, voice-over announcer, comedian, director, screenwriter, songwriter
Years active1980s–present
Website www.stevemackall.com

Stephen James "Steve" Mackall (born December 9, 1959) is an American voice actor, voice-over announcer, comedian, director, screenwriter and songwriter. [1] He was known as the voice of NBC's Must See TV, [1] and performed the voice of the lead character Marsupilami in both the Disney animated television series Raw Toonage (1992) and Marsupilami (1993). [2]

Contents

Background

Mackall graduated from Padua Franciscan High School and Ohio University. [3] After having won a trip to Los Angeles as first prize in a 1986 HBO comedy contest in Washington D.C., [3] he decided to leave Washington and live in Los Angeles, working as a copywriter while pursuing his comedy career. [1] [3] He began doing voice-over work in commercials in 1989. [1] Representative samples of his commercial work include being the voice of the cereal box for General Mills' 1993 Fingos promotion campaign, [4] and products and companies including CompUSA and Froot Loops, as well as being voice-over announcer for NBC, The WB, ABC Kids, and Fox Kids Network. [3]

He is also recognized as the voice of Hyperman in the Adventures of Hyperman CD-ROM game released in 1995 which was followed by the Hyperion Animation/CBS Television Series, The Adventures of Hyperman , that aired from November 4, 1995 to August 10, 1996. [5] [6]

Filmography

Television voice

Film voice

Screenwriter

Theater

Recognition

Los Angeles Times writes that "Mackall is one of a small group of Hollywood artists who have achieved a faceless fame..." "probably best known as the voice of NBC's Must See TV", [1] and Cleveland Plain Dealer wrote that he was "valued as an artist who can improvise voices for anything from animals to inanimate objects." [3]

Of Mackall's one man show, Wherever I Go, There we Are. LA Weekly wrote that his "wealth of experience as a voiceover artist and comedy scribe manifests itself in his artfully layered, near flawlessly timed and often funny solo act." They noted that his personal enthusiasm connected with the audience in a manner that reminded of Will Rogers. [8] In their review, Backstage West wrote that when recounting the nine stories which made up his performance, "Mackall is a strong performer" whose "speaking ability commands the attention and carries the audience through captivating and well-detailed portraits of near-otherworldly scapes." [9]

Related Research Articles

Digimon, short for "Digital Monsters", is a Japanese media franchise, which encompasses virtual pet toys, anime, manga, video games, films, and a trading card game. The franchise focuses on the eponymous creatures that inhabit a "Digital World", which is a parallel universe that originated from Earth's various communication networks.

<i>Gumby</i> 1957 American clay animation franchise

Gumby is a cartoon character and associated media franchise created by Art Clokey. Gumby is a blocky green humanoid made of clay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dan Castellaneta</span> American actor (born 1957)

Daniel Louis Castellaneta is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for voicing Homer Simpson on the animated series The Simpsons. Castellaneta is also known for voicing Grandpa in Nickelodeon's Hey Arnold!, and has had voice roles in several other programs, including Futurama, Sibs, Darkwing Duck, The Adventures of Dynamo Duck, The Batman, Back to the Future: The Animated Series, Aladdin, Earthworm Jim, and Taz-Mania.

<i>Raw Toonage</i> Disney animated cartoon series

Raw Toonage is an American animated series that aired on CBS. It premiered on September 19, 1992. The show was cancelled on December 5 after 12 episodes had been broadcast.

<i>The Shnookums & Meat Funny Cartoon Show</i> Television series

The Shnookums & Meat Funny Cartoon Show is a half-hour American animated comedy television series produced by Walt Disney Television Animation and aired in 1995 as a spin-off of the show Marsupilami, a spin-off itself of Raw Toonage. The show represents Disney's attempt to do a more "edgy" cartoon in the vein of Nickelodeon's The Ren & Stimpy Show and Rocko's Modern Life. Unlike other Disney Afternoon cartoons, Shnookums & Meat only aired once a week, usually Mondays. Only thirteen episodes were produced.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jonathan Taylor Thomas</span> American actor, voice actor, and director

Jonathan Taylor Thomas is an American actor and director. He is known for portraying Randy Taylor on Home Improvement and voicing young Simba in Disney's 1994 animated feature film The Lion King and Pinocchio in New Line Cinema's 1996 film The Adventures of Pinocchio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jackson Beck</span> American actor (1912–2004)

Jackson Beck was an American actor best known as the announcer on radio's The Adventures of Superman and the voice of Bluto in the Famous era Popeye theatrical shorts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andy Richter</span> American actor and announcer (born 1966)

Paul Andrew Richter is an American actor, comedian, writer, and talk show announcer. He is best known as the sidekick for Conan O'Brien on each of O'Brien's talk shows: Late Night and The Tonight Show on NBC and Conan on TBS. He was also star of the TV series Andy Richter Controls the Universe. He voiced Mort in the Madagascar film franchise and Ben Higgenbottom in the Nickelodeon animated television series The Mighty B!.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Fenneman</span> American radio and television announcer (1919–1997)

George Watt Fenneman was an American radio and television announcer. Fenneman is best remembered as the show announcer and straight man on Groucho Marx's You Bet Your Life. Marx, said of Fenneman in 1976, "There never was a comedian who was any good unless he had a good straight man, and George was straight on all four sides". Fenneman, born in Peking (Beijing), China, died from respiratory failure in Los Angeles, California, on May 29, 1997, at the age of 77.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joshua Seth</span> American magician

Joshua Seth is an American voice actor, comedian, motivational speaker, and author.

The Adventures of Hyperman is an American animated series that aired from October 14, 1995 to August 10, 1996 on CBS. The show features an intergalactic sheriff fighting the evil monster Entrobe and his sidekick Kidd Chaos. Hyperman is joined by his own sidekicks, Studd Puppy and 13-year-old science genius Emma C. Squared. The only voice actor to appear in both the game and the cartoon is Frank Welker.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neil Ross</span> British actor

Neil David Ross is a British–born voice actor. Noted for his Trans-Atlantic accent, he has provided voices in many American cartoons, most notably G.I. Joe, Spider-Man, My Life as a Teenage Robot, Voltron, and Transformers, as well as video games. Ross has also provided voice roles for many movies, including Back to the Future Part II, Babe, and Quiz Show. He currently serves as the announcer for the primetime version of Press Your Luck on ABC.

Anthony J. Pope was an American voice actor. He appeared in over 100 titles during his three-decade career, including as the voice of Goofy from 1979 to 1988. His anime roles include Colonel Shikishima in the Streamline Pictures dub of Akira (1988) and Shunsaku Ban in Metropolis (2001). Pope also provided the voice for the Tiger Electronics toy Furby.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob Miller (sportscaster)</span> American retired sportscaster (born 1938)

Robert James Miller is an American retired sportscaster, best known as the play-by-play announcer for the Los Angeles Kings team of the National Hockey League on Fox Sports West/Prime Ticket. Miller held that post with the team from 1973 until his retirement in 2017. He was partnered with Jim Fox from 1990 to 2017.

Hyperion Pictures is an American independent film production and distribution company founded by Thomas L. Wilhite, who had previously been the head of motion picture and television production for The Walt Disney Company, and writer/director Willard Carroll. The company produces both live-action and animated productions such as The Brave Little Toaster and The Runestone.

<i>Animaniacs</i> American animated television series

Animaniacs is an American animated comedy musical television series created by Tom Ruegger for Fox's Fox Kids block in 1993, before moving to The WB in 1995, as part of its Kids' WB afternoon programming block, until the series ended on November 14, 1998. It is the second animated series produced by Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment in association with Warner Bros. Animation, after Tiny Toon Adventures. It initially ran a total of 99 episodes, along with a feature-length film, Wakko's Wish. Reruns later aired on Cartoon Network from 1997 to 2001, Nickelodeon from 2001 to 2003, Nicktoons from 2003 to 2005, and Discovery Family from 2012 to 2014.

<i>Marsupilami</i> (1993 TV series) American animated television series

Marsupilami is a half-hour American animated television segment series that first appeared on television as a segment of the 1992 show Raw Toonage, and was then spun off into his own eponymous show on CBS for the 1993–94 season. The show was based on the character from the popular comic book by Belgian artist André Franquin et al.

Richard M. Dumont is a Canadian voice actor, writer and director who has worked in both Canada and the United States.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Morin, Monte (December 26, 1997). "A Voice For All Seasons". Los Angeles Times .
  2. "Steve Mackall". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times . 2012. Archived from the original on November 3, 2012. Retrieved October 16, 2010.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Feran, Tom (July 10, 2001). "Parma Native has A Voice to Remember". Cleveland Plain Dealer .
  4. Elliott, Stuart (August 2, 1993). "THE MEDIA BUSINESS: Advertising; General Mills Tries to Position Cereal Beyond the Breakfast Table. (page 2)". The New York Times . Retrieved September 1, 2012.
  5. Moore, Scott (September 10, 1995). "Old, New and Out of the Blue" . Washington Post . Retrieved September 1, 2012.
  6. "The Adventures of Hyperman". Hyperion Pictures . Retrieved October 16, 2010.
  7. Rooney, David (October 17, 2002). "Avenging Angelo". Variety .
  8. 1 2 3 Crogan, Jim (August 14–20, 1998). "stage review: Wherever I Go, There We Are". LA Weekly .
  9. Neil, Ken (July 30, 1998). "theater review: Wherever I Go, There We Are". Backstage West .